Zach Edey scores 10 of his 30 points in overtime to send No. 2 Purdue past Northwestern 105-96

Feb 1, 2024, 03:21 am

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- — Zach Edey spent 40 minutes wearing down the Northwestern defense.

Then he took full advantage over the final five minutes Wednesday night.

The reigning national player of the year scored Purdue’s first 10 points in overtime, finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds, and helped the second-ranked Boilermakers avoid yet another upset by leading them to 105-96 victory.

“It's kind of how we play,” Edey said. “We attack the rim or we get rebounds and we do all those things. We get teams into foul trouble, so over time they're forced to go to some matchups they maybe don't want against me and we're able to exploit that.”

Edey had plenty of help. Lance Jones scored a season-high 26 and Braden Smith had 11 points and 16 assists — matching the second-highest game total in school history. The Boilermakers (20-2, 9-2 Big Ten) won their sixth straight and became the first Division I team with 20 wins this season.

Northwestern coach Chris Collins drew a technical foul and was ejected with 1.7 seconds left when he walked onto the court, yelling furiously at one referee with the ball still in play.

After being restrained by one of his players, Collins calmed down and congratulated Edey and Purdue coach Matt Painter on his way off the floor, then gestured to the booing crowd to get louder. The Boilermakers were given four technical free throws just before the final buzzer.

“I'm not going to go into the officiating. We have great officiating,” Collins said, noting Purdue took 38 more free throws than the Wildcats. “I just don't know if I've ever seen a box score like that.”

Still, the Wildcats (15-6, 6-4) didn't make it easy with a harassing defense that wouldn't allow Purdue to pull away, and the Boilermakers helped by going 29 of 46 on free throws.

Boo Buie and Ty Berry each had 25 points for Northwestern, which led 78-73 with 2:37 left in regulation and had a chance to win it on Buie's 15-foot runner at the buzzer. But the ball bounced off the front of the rim, and then the 7-foot-4 Edey took over.

He opened overtime with a short hook shot, drew a foul on a dunk, made two free throws on Purdue’s next possession and added two more dunks to give Purdue a 91-87 lead. Northwestern could only get as close as two the rest of the way.

Edey also had one block, falling two short of becoming the fourth Big Ten player with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks.

Buie moved into second on Northwestern’s career scoring list with his ninth straight 20-point game against a ranked opponent. He now has 1,936 points.

BIG PICTURE

Northwestern: Collins’ squad understands how to challenge Edey better than any other Big Ten team. But after topping the nation’s No. 1 team twice on its home court in the past two seasons, the Wildcats came up just short this time. Still, Northwestern remains one of the conference’s top teams.

Purdue: The Boilermakers protected their home court again — thanks to Edey’s late charge. They can’t rely exclusively on the reigning national player of the year, but he’s certainly a nice go-to option on an off night.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Purdue barely navigated the first of this week’s two obstacles. The trickier part comes Saturday at No. 6 Wisconsin. Win that one, and the Boilermakers won’t slide past No. 2 and could move up to No. 1.

UP NEXT

Northwestern: Travels to Minnesota on Saturday.

Purdue: Visits No. 6 Wisconsin in Sunday’s matchup between the Big Ten’s top two teams.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball